7.01.2006

Robotic Volkswagen

But now German car giant Volkswagen has turned fiction into reality by unveiling a fully automatic car which really can drive itself - and at speeds of up to 150mph.

It can weave with tyres screeching around tricky bends and chicanes, and through tightly coned off tracks - without any help or intervention from a human.

The remarkable car is the VW Golf GTi '53 plus 1' codenamed after the number '53' which Herbie carried when racing in his big screen adventures.

The GTi has electronic 'eyes' that use radar and laser sensors in the grille to 'read' the road and send the details back to its computer brain. A sat-nav system tracks its exact position with pin-point precision to within an inch.

I don't know about it emerging as a "form" of artificial life, at least until there are enough "intelligent" sensor-laden vehicles to communicate and form a hive mind... but, these advances could lead to the replacement of cab drivers, UPS/FedEx drivers, long-haul truckers, etc. If I were in one of those catagories, I'd be looking for another job soon.

I don't know about it emerging as a "form" of artificial life, at least until there are enough "intelligent" sensor-laden vehicles to communicate and form a hive mind... but, these advances could lead to the replacement of cab drivers, UPS/FedEx drivers, long-haul truckers, etc. If I were in one of those catagories, I'd be looking for another job soon.

Mr. Perry, how do you get the $12 an hour figure (dividing cost of robot and electricity over lifetime)?While the technology is probably available between now and 5 years from now, I don't see widespread deployment until 2015. The parts of the car in this story will not hit showrooms for a few years.

I think people tend to overestimate the (initial) cost savings of robots - they will probably be more expensive than human labor for at least their first few years.